Task Force Ranao deactivated

By MASIDING NOOR YAHYA

March 26, 2019

Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief (left), congratulates Brig. Gen. Generoso Ponio, his deputy, for a job well-done as commander of the Joint Task Force Ranao, which was deactivated on Monday in a ceremony held at the Westmincom headquarters. (Photo courtesy of Westmincom Public Information Office) 

MARAWI CITY: The Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) has deactivated the Joint Task Force Ranao (JTF Ranao), one of its special task forces, to give the commander of the 1st Infantry Division a chance to command all the forces under his joint area of responsibility.

Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, Westmincom chief, spearheaded the deactivation ceremony of the Joint Task Force Ranao (JTF Ranao) on Monday at Camp Basilio Navarro, which houses the Westmincom Headquarters in Zamboanga City.

“We have to deactivate JTF Ranao because we deemed it necessary and feasible to give the commander of the 1st Infantry Division a chance to command all the forces under his joint area of responsibility,” Dela Vega explained.

Brig. Gen. Roberto Ancan, the Army’s 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division commander, is also the commander of JTF Zampelan (Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao provinces).

The 1st Infantry Division is based at Camp Major Cesar L Sang-an, Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.

Dela Vega lauded Brig. Gen. Generoso Ponio, deputy chief for operations of the Western Mindanao Command for operations, for all his accomplishments during his stint as commander of the JTF Ranao.

“He is an epitome of an officer and gentleman, and he had, no doubt, accomplished the mission,” he said.

Dela Vega conferred the Distinguished Service Medal on Ponio for “his initiatives and innovations that propelled the JTF Ranao in the accomplishment of its mandated mission.”

During the initial phase of the post-war rehabilitation efforts in Marawi City, Ponio “successfully synergized” the efforts of ground units and transformed his unit into a strategic and dynamic body, capable of addressing the complex demands of Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had activated the JTF Ranao to replace the defunct JTF Bangon Marawi, which was dissolved a few days after October 27, 2017 when the five-month Marawi Siege ended. (MNY)